It was the summer of 2012.
My wife and I had just returned home from student camp with First Baptist
Church of Riverview, Florida. My cousin told me about a church plant in North
Carolina while we were away at camp. The church had a job posting on their website
looking for a student pastor. Kristen and I thought it would be a good idea for
me to apply for the job.
I submitted my application
and resume. We tried to gather as much information about the church as
possible. We wanted to make sure God was leading us there and that it would be
a good fit for us. I had an interview with the Pastor and staff and then we
waited. We felt good about this. We really believed God was orchestrating some
things in our life and that this was where He was leading. A few weeks went by
and finally I got an email. It was an email from Julie Miller (at the time the
Campus Director). She thanked me for taking the time to get to know them but
stated that they would not be continuing the interview process with me. I was
devastated. Kristen was sobbing. How could this happen after we felt so
strongly?
A couple of weeks later I
replied to Julie’s email. I wanted to thank them for considering us to be a
part of what God was doing through them. I expressed to her that we were a
little discouraged by the decision but rejoiced that God opens and closes doors
of opportunity. These were the beginnings of several email correspondence with
the church.
Towards the end of 2012 I
still felt very strongly about Kristen and I moving to North Carolina. It was
something that I could not shake. We prayed about this decision many times.
Many times I had the same answer. By the time 2013 rolled around I was
absolutely convinced God was leading us to North Carolina, to this church. We
decided to take a step of faith and move. We talked with the church again and
told them we believed God was calling us there and that we should be there
around March.
Have you ever had one of
those conversations with your spouse that starts out pleasant and then out of
nowhere leaves you wondering what the heck just happened? Kristen and I had one
of those conversations. I don’t even remembering what we were talking about.
But I remember talking to her on the phone and she blurted out as we were
hanging up, “and I don’t think we should move to North Carolina either!” I
didn’t know what to think, say or do. We had just recently told this church we
were moving and now we’re going to have to tell him we’re not. I didn’t know it
then but we pulled a Steve Harvey. Needless to say, the subject of North
Carolina became a source of tension between Kristen and I. She wasn’t sure (or
at least that’s what she expressed) that we were called to go. I, however, was
unwaveringly convinced. We argued about it. We argued about it a lot. Our conversations
went a lot like this, “let’s just move to North Carolina so you’ll be happy”
and “let’s just stay in Florida so you’ll be happy.” We didn’t have the
healthiest of conversations at times.
March of 2013 we found out
we were expecting our first child. Anniston was born in November. I remember
the three of us sitting in the living room one afternoon. North Carolina had
not gone away. Neither had the arguing. I told my wife that I really believed
God was putting in my spirit that something bad was going to happen to us if we
did not move. I told her that I was praying for God to do whatever He needed to
do to get us wherever we needed to be. Anniston was about 4 months old. Kristen
looked at me and said, “you better not be praying for anything bad to happen to
her cause you’re gonna feel really bad if something does.” Of course I didn’t
want anything to happen to our daughter. I wasn’t sure what to make of these
thoughts or inclinations I was having. All I knew was that I believed God was
placing them there within my spirit.
Fast forward to September
25, 2014. This was an unimaginable day. Our world nearly crumbled down around
us. The fire seemed too hot. The waters were too deep. We walked into our
9:30am doctor’s appointment for our second child. We were told something wasn’t
quite right so we needed to see a specialist later that afternoon at 2:00pm. We
left our first appointment and ran into Hobby Lobby and then over to Honey
Baked Ham to grab some lunch. I’ll never forget walking on the sidewalk to the
restaurant. At the time, we didn’t know anything about our child or what might
be wrong with him. I felt God speaking to me again. It was about North
Carolina. I felt like God was putting things in my heart and spirit. I felt
like we would have to travel to Duke Medical Center for our child. We didn’t
even know what was wrong with him. He would have to go to Duke to receive some
treatments or therapy. That’s what I believed. It wasn’t going to be too bad.
If you’re familiar with our story then you know what happened.
Let’s keep going. April 14,
2015 we had Truett’s funeral. Things don’t return to normal. You just begin to
live a new normal. It happens to everyone that has lost a loved one. Kristen
was pretty confident that because of Truett we would have opportunities to meet
other families and minister to those walking similar paths as we did. This was
something she could not let go of. She convinced me to get on a plane and fly
to New York for us to meet a family who had just lost their little boy to
anencephaly.
In October of 2015 I
received a text message from Matt Hudson. Matt is the Pastor of Rescue House
Church in Mocksville, North Carolina. The church I believed we were called to.
He told me that they were going to hire another kids director in January and
asked if we would pray about this opportunity for Kristen to serve in that
capacity. We prayed specifically for this opportunity and for the church. Now
it was Kristen’s turn to go through the interview process with Rescue House.
I’ll never forget an email that Julie sent Kristen. Julie stated that while she
was following Truett’s story distance she got a glimpse of Kristen’s heart and
it was enough for her to want to pursue this opportunity. After a lot of
prayer, Rescue House Church offered Kristen a job. She accepted! We are going
to North Carolina, finally!
We are so excited for this
new adventure and covet your prayers during this time! We are so grateful for
each of you and all that you have done in our lives, especially this past year.
We will never forget where home is and we’ll be back to visit often! :)
With love,
Harry & Kristen
